CAREGIVER EMOTIONS

Generally they run the gamut. first of all depending on what stage your family member is in, this will dictate some of the feelings. They tend to vary and have a significant range, sometimes for no apparent reason and sometimes for a very good reason. At the two opposite ends of the spectrum are HOPE and UTTER DESPAIR. They are intense and strong, it is unusual to have a mundane day. There is the psychological issue of coming to terms early on after the diagnosis, and knowing and accepting there is no cure-that can be mentally exhausting as is any grief process. Mental overload and exhaustion leads to anger, sadness, anxious feelings and sometimes physical symptoms and problems, more headaches, irritable bowel, aches and pains, back problems, neck problems, lots of signs of mental stress, the physical complaints are really, the stress on the brain stresses the body, the immune system is weakened etc etc. Throw in the fact that Alzheimer's caregivers don't really have too much time to take care of themselves, not getting enough sleep, not eating right etc etc and you have symptoms compounded.

Then there is the actual physical exhaustion, staying up all night, perhaps trying to balance a full time or (more than full time job), raising your own kids or grandkids, and then caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's is a set-up for overload. The physical exhaustion leads to more anxiety and feelings often of depression, not to mention the fact that when you actually CAN get a few hours of sleep you may be so anxious and frustrated over caring for you loved one and the hopeless and helpless feelings that often pervade, you actually can't shut your brain off and let yourself sleep.

Sometimes it is hard to slow down, throw in all the appointments you have to keep for your loved one, in addition to all the other aspects that go into balancing a modern american family- other relationships suffer.

Does it have to be this way? Where do you draw the line? How do you break the cycle. Are there some happy caregivers filled with hope, maybe even joy? There are, maybe far and few between. Hope and joy often tend to come in snippets. They are easy to miss if you can't slow down a bit. There is no one secret..........

The Media-Research-Alzheimer's Breakthroughs

Did you ever notice how many treatments and cures there are for Alzheimer's.

Cell phones, video games, vitamins, statins, anti-inflamatories, high fat diets, low fat diets, all kinds of diets, lots of coffee, no coffee, more exercise, think healthy thoughts, sudoku's etc etc and on and on, we cling to each new breakthrough, and possible cure, but we never really look at the process. It is almost like finding the missing pearl in the shell.

We accuse the drug companies of holding out. Not enough money for reaearch, not enough dedicated to research. The pearl must be sop basic and so obvious, it must be right under our noses. Probably not.

Emerge the media. On a slow news day- big reporting,

"A NEW ALZHEIMER'S BREAKTHROUGH" and so it goes, and caregivers and victims get their hopes up. They are little pieces of the puzzle. It is an emotional roller coaster for the caregiver, who cling to every media report, only to be let down. If the cure was cell phones, or a vitamin, wouldn't that really have caught on by now?

I wish the media outlets would do an expose on what the media process does to people, and maybe we need a summation of all the little breakthroughs, the tiny pieces of the huge Alzheimer's puzzle we have filled on so far.-

Except that would not make good news. It would not be sensational for people. Not like "THE" BREAKTHROUGH. We are constantly hit with promises of a clear and completed puzzle. As family members we cling to any hope. It is human and it helps those suffering with the disease and their family members.

We are more quick fix, and need instantaneous gratification more than ever, I wish the answer was truly as simple as the constant claims make it out to be. I guess it makes news and gives people something to talk about. It does raise awareness. I keep thinking their must be something more than raising awareness, and reporting on the latest, previously missed, yet so obvious breakthrough. Something just is not right about the whole picture.